7–9% gross yield. No land tax. No CGT. All from your Sydney kitchen table.
We broker Dubai off-plan property to Australian residents. Below is the framing your accountant will appreciate — yield against the markets you already know, both sides of the tax picture, and a step-by-step of how the purchase actually runs from 12,000 km away.
None of this is financial or tax advice. We are a Dubai-licensed brokerage, not an AFSL holder.
01 · The yield gap
The same dollar earns roughly twice as much rent in Dubai.
Sydney and Melbourne apartment yields have compressed below 4% gross. Dubai off-plan in the communities we cover currently delivers 7–9% gross at handover, before tax. The figures below are indicative medians, not promises.
Sydney apartment (median)
- Gross yield
- 2.9%
- Land tax
- Yes, scaling
- Entry costs
- ~5.5% stamp duty + legal
Melbourne apartment (median)
- Gross yield
- 3.6%
- Land tax
- Yes, from $50k UCV
- Entry costs
- ~5.5% stamp duty + legal
Brisbane apartment (median)
- Gross yield
- 4.4%
- Land tax
- Yes, from $600k
- Entry costs
- ~4.5% stamp duty + legal
Dubai off-plan apartment
- Gross yield
- 7–9%
- Land tax
- None
- Entry costs
- 4% DLD transfer + ~2% agent
| Market | Gross yield | Land tax | Entry costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney apartment (median) | 2.9% | Yes, scaling | ~5.5% stamp duty + legal |
| Melbourne apartment (median) | 3.6% | Yes, from $50k UCV | ~5.5% stamp duty + legal |
| Brisbane apartment (median) | 4.4% | Yes, from $600k | ~4.5% stamp duty + legal |
| Dubai off-plan apartment | 7–9% | None | 4% DLD transfer + ~2% agent |
Sources: CoreLogic 2026 Q1 (AU medians), DLD transaction data 2025 H2 (Dubai). CGT treatment is identical across all four rows because it follows your Australian residency status, not the property's location — see section 03.
02 · Tax, both sides
Dubai charges nothing. Australia still taxes worldwide income.
On the Dubai side: no personal income tax on rent, no capital gains tax on resale, no annual land tax. Your only ongoing local costs are the building's service charges and — if you rent it out — a 5% municipal housing fee paid by the tenant on the lease.
On the Australian side: while you remain an Australian tax resident, net rental income from the property is assessable here. Capital gains on eventual sale are assessable here, with the 50% CGT discount available to individuals who held for more than twelve months. There is currently no Australia–UAE double tax treaty in force, which simplifies the foreign income tax offset mechanics (mostly because there's almost no Dubai-side tax to offset).
The structuring decision worth getting right: which entity holds the asset (you personally, a discretionary trust, a company), and whether your Australian residency is likely to change inside the holding period. The 2026 federal budget commentary around negative gearing and the CGT discount doesn't affect Dubai-side treatment — it only changes the Australian arithmetic on resale.
Talk to your Australian accountant before you commit. We can introduce you to two firms in Sydney and Melbourne that have done this work repeatedly and know the Dubai documentation already.
03 · How it actually runs
Four stages. None of them require you in Dubai.
01
Reservation
You sign a digital reservation form and transfer a 5–10% booking deposit to the developer's escrow account. The escrow is regulated by RERA — funds are released to the developer only against construction milestones audited by the Dubai Land Department.
02
SPA + Oqood registration
Within 30 days the developer issues the Sale & Purchase Agreement. We review it with you over a video call. Once signed, the property is registered against your name on the Oqood interim register at the DLD. You now legally own the off-plan unit. No Australian bank, no FIRB filing — Australian foreign investment rules govern inbound buyers, not outbound.
03
Construction payments
You make the scheduled payments — typically 50–60% across the build, milestone by milestone. We give you reminders 30 days out and the receipts as they clear escrow. You can stage the transfers across multiple weeks to smooth your AUD/AED exchange rate.
04
Handover
On completion you pay the balance and the 4% DLD transfer fee. The title deed (now electronic) issues into your name. We arrange snagging, key collection, and — if you want — handoff to a property manager who handles the lease, the tenant, and the service charges. You never need to be in Dubai.
04 · Currency
The AED is pegged to the USD at 3.6725.
The peg has held since 1997. For an Australian buyer that means your Dubai property is effectively a USD-denominated asset. Over the last decade AUD/USD has traded between roughly 0.60 and 0.80 — a swing wide enough that the same Dubai apartment can be worth meaningfully more or less in AUD purely from currency movement.
We don't predict FX. We do help you stage the during-construction payments across the build timeline so you're never single-day exposed to a bad fix. A typical 50–60% construction tranche splits cleanly across six to eight transfers, smoothing your average rate. For the larger handover payment, forward contracts via OFX or Wise Business are worth pricing against your bank's spot.
05 · Getting your money home
No capital controls. The friction is Australia-side.
The UAE has no exchange controls. Funds you bring in to buy can be repatriated on resale, net of the 4% DLD transfer fee on the buyer side and agent commission. That part is simple.
What slows Australian buyers down is AUSTRAC and bank source-of-funds questioning on the AUD leg. The bank conversation is far easier when you can produce: the original DLD Form F, construction-stage payment receipts, the Form I issued at handover, and a clean SPA. We keep all four organised on your file from day one.
When you eventually sell, expect four to eight weeks from completion in Dubai to funds cleared in your Australian account. Plan accordingly if the proceeds are earmarked.
A note on SMSFs
We do not market this strategy to self-managed super funds. The sole-purpose test, the limited-recourse borrowing constraints on offshore property, and the related-party rules make Dubai off-plan a poor fit for the structures we typically see. If your adviser believes otherwise for your specific fund, we're happy to provide the Dubai-side documents — but the recommendation needs to come from a licensed Australian financial adviser, not from us.
Compliance reminder
Amaxis Properties is a Dubai-licensed real estate brokerage. We are not Australian Financial Services Licence holders, are not registered tax agents, and do not provide personal financial product advice as defined under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Yield figures, tax statements and projected returns above are general information about the Dubai property market and the typical tax treatment of foreign real estate held by Australian residents. Engage your own Australian tax adviser before any acquisition.
Talk to us about your situation →Thirty minutes. Your situation. A real answer.
We don’t pitch on these calls. We ask about your existing portfolio, your Australian tax position, your target yield — then tell you honestly whether we can help. If Dubai off-plan isn’t the right fit, Mahmoud will say so on the call.
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